All But Dead
by GravityWolf
Summary: Steve had looked up, noticing the red and gold flash of the Iron Man suit as it guided the giant missile away from the city. When the portal closed neither came back.
1. Chapter 1

_(Lots of thanks to my great Beta Reader, my amazing cousin, Percabeth1300)_

* * *

_Oh shit_, was the first thought that went through his mind.

His heart pounded loud in his ears, maybe even louder than the time he was unfrozen from the ice- which was saying a lot. The flash of red and gold hurt his eyes as the large pointed missile was guided away from the already destroyed city and redirected into the gaping portal that was torn through the sky.

The blackness of space and the whoosh of the energy crackling around its surface was almost as deafening as the war that was going on around Captain America. He barley noticed at first, more focused on his patriotic shield that whipped back around like a frisbee after knocking three of the Chitauri out of the way, sending them falling over one another.  
Steve looks up hastily at the sky and freezes in place, watching the wormhole suddenly stuttering out jolts before closing in on itself.

He only gets a fleeting glance of the metal figure, hands wrapped tightly around the explosive as he shot it up and disappeared. Steve felt the battle slow down around him, the blades, guns and hovercrafts pausing in time as a horrible unease rested in his stomach.

_Tony_.

The gap crumpled in, cracking like glass shards and seeping, bleeding away into the disgustingly beautiful blue sky, draped with perfect silk clouds and rays of white sun bouncing off the ugly rubble of the once city of New York.

That's going to be a lot of property damage to pay for, he grimly reminded himself with an almost grin before a loud shudder threw him back into reality. Thor glanced up at his right, twisting and swinging his hammer, flying up to one of the not destroyed rooftops, ready to find the genius who would soon fall back. Right?

He waits, and the portal has finally dissolved with a low, soft hum, the image of the glinting stars and shadows of space evaporated. The machine on the top of Stark Tower powers off with a rattle that can be felt in the cracked roads. It's in the back of his mind that the aliens that were left were fleeing, screaming in terror and panicking like the civilians they had attacked only minutes ago.

As he turns away, Steve looks into the beastly face of one of the creatures, who raises his blade furiously about to stab him. Oh. His body doesn't process the request to block it in time, breath catching in his throat.

An arrow whisks right before him, the whistle of it audible as it slices accurately through the monster's skull, the thing screeching on impact before collapsing to the ground, Steve watching in utter silence as the sword-like weapon clattered into bloody debris. It takes him more time than he should need to start and look up over to Clint, who was waltzing his way through the ruins, once or twice he would bend over to pluck one of his retrievable arrows and sliding it back with the few he had left.

The archer's stormy eyes seemed to get even darker as he look at Captain America's expression. Both hesitate, then talking at the same time while shuffling in the scraps, gazing over the broken city. Hawkeye goes for a smile.  
"We did it-"  
"Iron Man, he-" The super solider stammers, his mouth suddenly dry, "The missile. H-he didn't make it."

The hand on his bow seems to go white-knuckled as Clint's jaw shifts, biting into his lip as he swivels on the bottom of his heels, turning away. Steve feels his heart starting to sink in on itself, weighing down like a boulder as his mind began to process what he had just witnessed.

Tony Stark was dead.

Tony saved the city and sacrificed himself to do so. Of all ways he had to die, Steve would have imagined a lab accident, or a fatal crash-landing in the Iron Man suit, or even alcohol poisoning since he drank so much.  
This is not what Steve expected.

"Report back to Stark Tower for evaluation." Natasha sighs into her comm, but it echoes against the team's silence. Each hero moves slow and almost lost when they start toward the broken skyscraper.

...

There is a pained, pressuring silence that takes over all the Avengers as they gradually settled, escaping from the battle- everyone going back to lick their wounds. They had already patrolled the whole cityscape at least four times, mostly on Cap's precise orders. There was nothing to be found.

Even though everyone thought they should be celebrating their victory since it was of utmost importance to all the lives they saved in New York, they dragged themselves into Stark Tower ungracefully, sulking in a dark despair. No one realized how much of a toll it would take if one of them...

Steve watched with distant blue eyes, frowning and glaring at his feet while Hawkeye insisted on going back out once more to check again, trying to cling to an ounce of hope, but it seemed there wasn't any. Bruce was in a half unconscious state on the other end of the beige leather couch, groaning into the pillows and Natasha has slunk back, pacing the room's perimeter like an irritated panther, mumbling under her breath with a hint of anger and, well, Steve only recognizes it as regret.

Steve only remembered his few, scattered moments with the genius. The blonde realized those were his last moments with him, and another part of his heart was cut open.

Thor was shouting in his normal intense and powerful voice, his hammer, Mjölnir, shaking wildly as his waved his fists in the air, while he bellowed about Stark being a hero to all.

"We must continue our search for Friend Stark." He boomed, making the blonde cringe inward. He uneasily shifts, sitting in front of the Demi-god.  
His voice cracks awkwardly when he starts, "Clint is looking-"

"Captain," The Black Widow's voice echoes and a hand on his shoulder make him reflexively flinch and slumps backwards. "Steve?"  
"What?" He lifts his head to meet her serious face, "Yes?"  
She looks up at the raging Asgardian calmly, "Thor. Could you leave Steve and I alone for a moment?"  
He looks about to protest before she mentions the Pop-Tarts in the kitchen.

Her hand goes to him, and at first he thinks she is trying to comfort him until he feels a smooth object slide into his palm, making his hand curl around and reveal the newest StarkPhone laying there.

He nearly throws it when a rough, tiresome voice speaks through it, "Captain Rogers."  
The blonde sighs, lifting it up to examine it while saying, "Yes, Director?"  
The man clears his throat awkwardly, "We need to have a progress report on this event, so I've sent Agent Hill and h-"  
"No." Steve splutters, surprised by his own words, as well as having such difficultly speaking his own mind, "No, I can't do that right now, Fury."

He can almost hear the raise of eyebrows in the room, Thor dropping his ten boxes of Pop-Tarts in the kitchen. Steve stands, his hand crushing the phone just a little it.

"And why," Director Fury's voice seemed strained, "Is that?"  
He straightens his back unsteadily, "Because... we wouldn't all be there."  
"Who is missing?"

The super-soldier opens his mouth but Natasha snatches the phone from his hand, throwing it and cracking it against the wall, leaving him stunned and gaping at her. She surges forward, grabbing the man's shoulder with an almost hiss.

"We haven't told him yet. No one has told Shield yet and," Her pause only lasts a second, "I don't think we want them to know just yet."

When she moves aside, Steve takes in the sight of the sad family room of Stark Tower, because suddenly, everything seemed bland or just different without Tony. It wasn't the same to look at all of his inventions, realizing he was never going to make another one. Everything reminded him of Tony, and that only made him feel worse.

Maybe he could have prevented Tony from chasing after that missile and then he wouldn't have to go to through this. As Steve was looking through the papers that were listed with Tony's name in a file in the kitchen counter, the word deceased had appeared next to his current status. The word seems to have a hard time going through his mind, because how could the genius Tony Stark, the Iron Man, be dead?

This man had been tortured, kidnapped, and had more near-death experiences he could count so how was this possible?  
Tony was all BUT dead. It was impossible to accept the facts.

He wandered to his room in a daze, shaking off Clint and Natasha who tried to talk to him, and curled up on the edge of his bed.

What kind if leader did that make him? Was he a bad leader for having Tony die and him not being able to stop it? He has lost all of his family, his best friend he died, his girlfriend aged away while he was frozen and eventually died, and now...

Tony died. Steve couldn't figure out a category to put the outlandish genius under, but it ranged in between 'annoying little shit' to 'I have a really awkward crush in this guy'. He admittedly did cry a little bit before he closed his eyes, but in only a few minutes he was woken by a familiar voice.

Steve starts when the AI system wakes him from his half-asleep conscious. The solider rubs his face exhaustedly, ridding the evidence of tears.

"Captain Rogers," The British voice says considerately, almost tiredly.

"Yes?"

"I have has a request of your presence immediately. You have an incoming message from Ton-"

"Not now Jarvis," The blonde curls his legs up to his face, resting his chin on his knees and blocking out the voice of the intelligent system. It kept reminding him of Tony.

"Captain Rogers, please-"  
"Jarvis. No, I'm not in the mood." He turns his steely blue gaze to the ceiling even though technically he's not particularly located in the ceiling. Jarvis is everywhere.

"It is very urgent Captain," The AI says, sounding so human because he sounds so pained and startled. The blonde chucks a notebook across the room.

"Not. Now." And with that he collapses, sliding off his bed and gripping the sheets, sniffling. The more he thought about Tony then more it hurt. Like a stab at the heart. Steve didn't move for another good hour.

He was finally gathered up and collected into the family room, convinced by Natasha (more like dragged) out and laid still on the counter, slumping in his seat. The team was a sad, sad sight when in emotion turmoil or despair.

Clint was wielding a bottle of wine and Natasha seemed less organized, her hair clumped and her wounds still visible from battle. Thor had lost his energy and will to go on, and Bruce was in a daze, staring at the walls or coffee-maker for a minute before blinking and running his eyes. Steve was surprised he hadn't Hulked out yet. Together the team looked like a huge, hungover wreck.

Natasha, unsurprisingly was the first to speak. "We need to talk to Pepper, because I'm sure that somewhere in Stark's will he put-"

"Oh God, Pepper!" Steve yelps, shaking and grasping the edge of the counter firmly, "She doesn't- wait, his will?"

He looks incredulously around his team. "We're discussing his will? Can't we wait? It seems a little to soon too-"

"Captain," The red curls bounce around her face as she sighs and leans forward, running her fingers through them, her face seeming empty and dismayed. "All of the media will fling themselves on to us once they know, and obviously, I think some noticed we were missing a person when we came back here."

_Snap_. Clint is the only one who looks alarmed when Steve breaks off a chunk of perfect marble table-top, crushing it so simply in his hands like it was paper.

"We can't start yet-"  
"Steve. It's over-"  
"No, it's not. We don't have to-"  
"Steve." A voice interrupts, making Natasha turn her stare to Banner, scarcely having the ability to lift his head enough for him to look at the two. His words slurred with dreary pain as he spoke, but he knew what he was saying.

His rough hand met Steve's for a second, patting the solider with calloused fingers and a long, drawn sigh.

"You have to stop thinking about him," Bruce quietly stammers, "He wouldn't want the team he helped build this team, he wouldn't want to see us fall apart at his death-"  
"Don't bring that up," Steve hisses, glaring at the man like he murdered a puppy, "Tony-"

There is a loud crack as the front door opens and the following footsteps are heavy, almost slow, like a limp.

"Intruder?" Bruce whispers, trying to get up but seemingly can't.

Clint and Thor had immediately shot up from their seats on the couch, looking ready to launch forward and attack whoever had-  
The whole family room seems to stop and tense as a man enters, dressed in horribly, broken amour, rivets falling off at each step he takes.

"Guys," Tony holds up his hand weakly, wiping his face casually with his one good hand, the metal smudging more dirt and blood over his cheeks, "There is this really cool shawarma joint right down block, we could walk there so, hey, you all wanna go...what are you all looking at? Did you seriously think I would die that easily?"


	2. Chapter 2

_(Reviews are greatly appreciated!)_

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Landing in the Atlantic Ocean was high on the list of things that Tony Stark would never, fucking, ever do again.

The icy salt water rushed up to meet him and before he knew what was happening, he felt the crunch of falling meet him with way to much force. He only blinked, watching the screens flicker bright, flashing alarms appearing everywhere with overly dramatic red bold letters like what you see in the movies when something goes wrong with a machine.

At least he hadn't landed on the concrete of some New York street, where he probably would have permanently left an impression of the Iron Man suit in the road. But he couldn't agree that it wasn't as painful, the sudden shock of it nearly knocking him out.

His whole suit shuddered went into a horrific stillness that scared him more than anything else he had experienced in the suit. It reminded him of the time where he had tested the amor for one of the first times, pushing its limits. The ice was like rough, sinister claws running along his back.

Tony couldn't move his limbs, and his body began to feel more and more restricted as he fidgeted, shouting commands, and breathing increasing as nothing happened.

"Jarvis?" Tony breathed in, closing his eyes for a second, not getting a response as the screens went dark, "Jarvis!"

He feels his heart do a flip when the screen finally lit up after his flailing for at least five good minutes and began to respond to his requests. His whole body jerks, overloading and making shrill buzzes almost as if to tell him 'shit, this was not okay' for his suit. Tony flexed his fingers, peering through the two eye-holes and felt the shock of fear run down his spine as he realized he was sinking- he was dying.

The mask lights up after a minute.

"Sir?"

"Jarvis!" Tony almost cried with delight, never so happy to hear his AI's voice before.  
"Sir, power percentages at 18 percent approximately-"  
"Deploy Mark Code 11.2, and do it quick."

"Sir," The system almost seems to hesitate, "That code is not fully functional, and it would need almost full power to-"  
"Now!" Tony lets the frantic tone bleed into his voice, and the AI doesn't say anything as the power in the suit's boots begin to hum. He rockets toward the surface with an almost manic laugh of gratefulness. The dark shadows of water and bubbles suddenly disappear as he shoots, sky rocketing through the water with extraordinary speed.

The blast of breaking through the water is like being punched by the Hulk without an Iron Man suit, and the momentum is really disorienting, but he finds himself in hysterical laughter as sudden cold air and the pasty white clouds come to meet him face-first.

"Freedom!" He shrieks, watching as large waves ripples out from where he blasted out of the greasy ocean. He shivers, feeling the delight of escaping, almost like when he was kidnapped in Afghanistan-  
The rockets splutter, and make a growling noise as they die, leaving Tony screaming as he begins to crash downward again. The genius desperately waves his hands stupidly to try and activate the repulsers, but they don't even glow.

"6 percent power, Sir." Jarvis says calmly through his ears. It makes Tony relax a little, but the ocean is nearing, closer and closer. He can't die like this! That would be absolutely ridiculous.

"Help me! Set me to run on the emergency power!"

"Yes, Sir." Stark is glad that the AI doesn't protest and does what he is told to do for a change. His hands burst with energy and Tony catches himself uneasily, swaying as he skims the surface of the ocean, grinning as the New York skyline suddenly is in view.

The sun has fully risen and was descending, making Tony start because he must have been gone for over half a day because it wasn't this late when he flew up with the missile.

The brunette winces when he remembers the strength he had to put into guiding the explosive up, watching as the blue sky was suddenly the dark, star splattered canvas of space. He recalls how his breath caught in his throat when calling Pepper, and how he watched with distant eyes as the portal closed, believing he wasn't going to make it. The black engulfed him as he aimlessly fell.  
Well, its a plus to know that he didn't die.

Tony knew the emergency source was going to die out soon, so he flew faster, but it didn't make much of a difference. He needed to reach New York City.

"Jarvis," Tony crumples, voice cracking fully, while having embarrassment rise to his cheeks even though no one is around, "Can you get in contact with anyone?"

The silence is from the system is almost antagonizing.

"Most communications at Stark Tower have been shut off, but I can enter the system database to try and retrieve access to transmit a signal to get you through to the Avengers."

The genius lets a smile tremble on his lips, "Are you telling me you can hack into my data systems just to allow me to talk to them?"

"Yes, Sir."

A bark of laughter rumbles from his throat and it comes out as a garbled sound from beneath his helmet, so he lifts the face-plate and takes a breath of air ecstatically aside from the wounds and cuts and the possible concussion he has. "Sometimes I think I programmed you too well, Jar. Fucking thank you."

"I'm here to serve you, Sir."

The dull ring and snap of a connection alerts him that he was able to enter the security system in a matter of seconds. That was a little scary. He was too good at all of this, he probably wouldn't be alive without the AI.

"Get Steve, if you can." Tony coughs, hacking, which in his mind, is really gross and a sign that he probably needed some medical attention. Immediately. "Okay?"

"Yes, Sir."

When the dial gets through he hears the shifting of voices in the background. He can make out some of the conversation between the two, but it is muffled and distorted by static to an extent.

"Captain Rogers," The British voice says considerately, almost tiredly.

...

"Yes?" Tony feels his heart drop at the sound of Steve's voice.

"I have has a request of your presence-"

...

"Not now Jarvis," The blonde sounds angry and maybe even...sorrowful. Tony can't figure it out, listening to the fuzzy transmission intently.

"Jarvis. No-"

"It is very urgent Captain," The AI claims, seeming upset by Steve's disrespect.

"Not. Now."  
...

The call is broken and both AI and creator seems to cave in for a moment with the same exhaustion.  
"Fucking," Tony is now just really pissed off, "Shit, Steve."

He wipes his brow, flitting across the skyline and reaching the city finally. The suit is suddenly weighing him down as power grows weaker and weaker.  
He needs to return soon.  
Why couldn't have Steve just picked up the phone?

Tony is stressing his limits and finally has resulted to walking down the broken streets of New York, constantly looking up at the sky to see if the portal almighty have somehow reopened, of maybe never even went away.  
It seemed to haunt him.

The streets were now just broken, gray cement shards scattered around, ripped from their surface horrifically. Trees were shattered, half of the buildings destroyed and over more than two-thirds receiving some form of injury.  
Some buildings were reduced to rubble and some had no scratches whatsoever. Tony could identify the scorch marks in the ground as the repulsers blasts, which seem to be quite affective judging by how much was destroyed by them.

It seemed like the battle with Loki had been over a year ago than less than twenty-four hours. The city seemed so weak and horribly boring with no people populating it, even if they were screaming and running for their lives.

Tony only glanced at the buildings, recognizing almost each one if them even though he hasn't eaten at them before. He limped, catching his breathe every few moments with tears swelling in his eyes at the pain that was getting to him.

He slipped and rested against a street-pole, staring blankly at the restaurant ahead. It was smaller than most, but seemed like one of those nice, quite and cozy places you would take a person out on a really simple date for.  
It served something called 'shwarma' which sounded pretty weird, but good. He noticed the Iron Man sized hole he had ripped through on its short roof when he had been tossed backwards earlier in battle. Well, he'd pay for that.

"Jarvis, remind me of this place. Looks good, should I take the team out for it later?"

"Sir, I-"

"Yeah, yeah I'll do that. I'm sure they will like it. Have we ever eaten out together? I don't think I have with anyone in the group. Take a note, remind me."

"Dully noted, Sir."

Stark Tower was in full view now, and Tony tried to increase his pace as he stumbled down the sidewalk, his suit spitting out little bolts and shards as he walked. His ribs seemed to have a hard time letting his lungs breathe, but he didn't falter as he approached the doors on the Tower.

Tony mindlessly looked up to sadly notice that the only thing left on the Stark Tower letters was an 'A' but it seemed cool. He might keep it like that.

The door opened without question, Jarvis playing a part in that, as well as the working lights flickering in to shine dimly on the inside. The genius hesitated when entering the elevator, stepping in with caution as he suit moaned in protest.

He had to rebuild. A lot.

As the levels went quick and the light grew and faded, he knew that they were in the family room at the heat signatures Jarvis told him about. The words got stuck in his mouth awkwardly, uncomfortably.

What was he going to say? What was he going to do? What would the others say? And what would their reactions be?  
Tony cringed as the floor reached its level and the doors parted smoothly. Time to make an entrance. He was sure they could hear his heavy footsteps by now, especially when he slammed the front hallway room door open as he approached the family room.  
He could hear their voices die down after what sounded like a heated argument. The team seemed to tense with fear which made Tony wear a small, soft grin.

"Intruder?" Bruce's voice is in a stammering whisper, but the genius can still hear it. He senses that everyone has shifted into battle position, and he step-falls into the family room. Every face in the room dropped, even Natasha for a first.

He can't hold back the overwhelming smile that spreads over his face almost idiotically. Steve goes deathly pale, gripping a piece of marble that he seemingly tore off his nice kitchen counter, while Thor and Clint seemed dumbfounded by his miraculous return.

Natasha has her emerald eyes wide and drawn back, revealing a little shock and stunned at his trashed image, and Bruce continuously rubbed his eyes like he could t believe this and thought it was a dream.  
Tony goes for the casual return, like 'I have been here the whole time' routine.

He notices his files scattered in the table with other important information, many including pictures of today's battle and Tony. Was that what they were discussing? His funeral or something? Wow.

He couldn't be brought down though, grinning through cracked, dry lips at his team, though in fact looking like was hit by multiple buses.

"Guys," Tony begins, voice cracking. He wipes his face and draws back the hand with disgust when blood and dirt coat his fingertips, "There is this really cool shwara joint right down block, we could walk there so, hey, you all wanna go...what are you all looking at? Did you seriously think I would die that easily?"

Tony always remembered the moment he said that so clearly because Steve's face was so fucking priceless.


End file.
